Tamada unveils the colours of Konica

The Konica Minolta Honda Team unveiled their new colour scheme in a special presentation to the Japanese press at the Honda Welkome Plaza in Aoyama, Tokyo, on Thursday.

Makoto Tamada's RC211V will be decked out in the distinctive blue, white and black of the Japanese photographic giants, the main sponsors of the JiR team structure run by President Tedsuo Iida, Team Manager Gianluca Montiron and Technical Director Giulio Bernardelle.
It is Konica Minolta Honda's first season in the MotoGP World Championship although the basis of the team is the same as that which has supported Tamada throughout his first three seasons in the series, under the guidance of Montiron.
"Today is a particularly special day for me," said the Italian. "We decided to take the cover off the formidable Honda RC211V of the Konica Minolta Honda Team rider Makoto Tamada here, because it was important for us do it in such a prestigious headquarter, the house of Honda.
"Our bike will be without doubt very visible thanks to the sky-blue and white colours, and thanks to the results that we are hoping to achieve. Our Konica Minolta Honda Team wants absolutely to return the trust given to us by Honda and our title sponsor Konica Minolta.
"All of us strongly believe in our abilities and we are sure to come back here at the end of the season with something important to show to you all."
Tedsuo Iida added: "I'm glad to announce the beginning of our challenge in the highest category of motorcycle racing world championships with our Konica Minolta Honda Team, here at the Welkome Plaza in Aoyama, home of Honda.
"I want to thank Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. for supporting us and for guaranteeing us their trust and, naturally, Honda Racing Corporation for supplying the bikes.
"I have two dreams for this adventure: the first is to win the highest category world championship with a Japanese rider, while the other is to pass on the motorbike culture to new generations in this world."
Fumio Iway, Konica Minolta President, stated: "First of all I would like to thanks Honda Co, Ltd, Honda Research Center Co. Ltd. and Honda Racing Co,.Ltd that gave us this possibility.
"Furthermore, I have to thank JiR, its President Mr. Iida and his collaborators that have worked hard to let this project became reality. Konica Minolta wants to use MotoGP as a symbol of its products, a synonym of speed, power and modernity, the same characteristics that we have in common with our Konica Minolta Honda Team.
"Our objective is to create a new image for our brand not only in Europe, where MotoGP is much more popular, but also in Asia and in the United States of America. All of this will be possible thanks to the enormous potential of our rider Makoto Tamada, who has great ambitions and will try to reach great results on every circuit around the world."